1. Field of the Invention
The claimed invention relates to devices used to enhance the performance of a baseball player's batting swing, and more specifically to adjustable weighted attachments for baseball bats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Athletes train to become better players in their sport, spending hours in practicing different aspects of the sport. As an example, baseball players continually practice hitting, fielding, and base running to become a better baseball player. In the past, different types of training devices have been used that were intended to enhance the performance of an athlete, particularly in sports requiring hand held equipment such as baseball, tennis, and hockey. These devices were often developed and used based on impressions that the devices would enhance an athlete's performance without actually studying the effect that a particular device might have upon a player's performance.
One of the more popular types of training methods has been attaching weights to an athlete's hand held playing equipment such as baseball bats, tennis racquets, hockey sticks, or golf clubs. The attaching of extra weight to these types of equipment is thought to strengthen the athlete's muscles through practice while using such weighted equipment. However, placement of such weight upon the equipment has seldom been studied. In some applications, placement of extra weight upon playing equipment such as a baseball bat can actually be counter productive to the performance of the athlete due to the improper placement of the weight. If the weighted device is not secured about a baseball bat in the proper location, the extra weight can interrupt the baseball player's proper swinging form, possibly resulting in poor hitting performance. Several of the prior art weighted training devices and their disadvantages are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,156, issued to Giguere discloses a Golf Club Practice Swing Weight that comprises a flexible web arranged to have secured thereto a plurality of flexible pouches. The strap member can have a hook and loop fastener surface using a ring member. The device can be mounted about a shaft, such as a golf shaft whereupon it can be secured about itself. This training device provides only a pair of weights that conforms to the curvature of the golf club shaft, but does not provide an expedient way to add or remove a discrete amount of weight having a solid, reshapeable curved surface for engagement with a rounded surface such as a handle of a baseball bat. This makes it difficult for the user or athletic trainer to accurately monitor the amount of weight being used in the training device. Further, this training device does not have a memory characteristic allowing users to reattach the training device to the golf club in the same location as previously positioned if removed. Further, this prior art does not teach the concept of employing a tacky rubber-like or rubber surface on an inner surface of a baseball bat weight training belt to resist slippage when engaged to a round baseball bat handle according to features of my invention.
Athletes often use the training device during practice sessions and then remove the training device during actual play. In prior art training devices of this type, it would be difficult if not impossible to place the training device on the golf shaft at the same location as previously placed due to the lack of formability memory training devices of this type have. This point is important in that an athlete can use and remove the training device from the golf club while being able to consistently place the training device on the club in the same location thereby providing a uniform training experience.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,812, issued to Mugford et al. discloses a Weight Device for Athletic Racket having two sheets separated by an elastic member. Each sheet contains a plurality of egg-shaped weights (in section) that are housed in chambers that are formed by the joining of two layers of flexible material at spaced locations. Attachment can be made using VELCRO type surfaces. This training device presents many of the same problems as previously discussed. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the training device may perhaps repeatedly be placed upon the racquet, but only due to the configuration of the racquet. This device would not be capable of being repeatedly placed upon a hand held athletic tool as shown in FIG. 5. Therefore there is a need for a weighted training device that provides for quick and easy repeatable placement of the training device upon a hand held athletic tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,560, issued to Gemmel includes a practice weight for a flat sided hockey stick that is a U-shaped weight that can be clamped onto a shaft or handle and is then clamped by clamp screws and then secured by a flexible cover that is wrapped around the shaft and itself. The clamp feature of this training device provides a device that can be removably coupled to a hockey stick while providing means for preventing the training device from shifting during use. However, this training device does not allow for easy repeatable placement of the training device upon the hockey stick. Therefore, there is a need for a training device that provides a quick and easy way to reattach a weighted training device to a hand held athletic tool in the same location as previously placed. This type of a picture weight device has not been constructed for use with a round tapered handle of a baseball bat which required different physical characteristics.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,893, issued to Evans teaches a weight holder and method of use that can removably add weight at selected positions on a flat sided racket and possibly a bat. The device is made of flexible material that wraps around a shaft or handle and overlaps at the ends for removable, adjustable securement and positioning. The holder comprises two, spaced pockets with a weight in each pocket and these weights can be removed to change weight size and weight. The weights disclosed in this training device are cylindrical and non-formable. Weights of this type tend to shift during use of the tennis racquet do the surface profile of the weight not being similar to the surface profile of the racquet. Therefore, there is a need for a weighted training device that provides a weight that conforms to the curvature of a hand held athletic tool that prevents the weights from shifting during use of the training device.
As athletic training methods have advanced, athletic trainers have studied the effects of different types of training devices upon the performance of an athlete. Improved technology such as slow motion imaging has helped athletes and athletic trainers to study the behavior of athletes as they perform different tasks within a sport. These advances have made athletes and athletic trainers aware that some of the training methods previously used actually hinder an athlete's performance instead of improving performance. As an example, some baseball trainers who study hitting discourage the use of the doughnut type weight that has been in use for many years due to the negative effects weighting of this kind is thought to have on a hitter's form. Therefore there is a long felt need for a weighted training device that can provide a solution to the problems previously explained in the prior art.